Incinerator



Jan. 3, 1967 G. E. MCGINNIS INC 1 NERATOR Filed April 27. 1964 AIRPRESSURE TIMER RECYCLING HOV AC 0 2 m 0 V R E S E R COOLING AIRINJECTION TIN CANS COMBUSTION AIR WITNESSES INVENTOR Gerald E McGinnisATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,2hfi77 Patented Jan. 3, 19873,295,477 INCINERATOR Gerald E. McGinnis, Plum Borough, Pa, assiguor toWestinghouse Electric (Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Filed Apr. 27, 1964. Ser. No. 362,735 7 Claims. (Cl. 1108)This invention relates to incinerators and particularly to domesticappliance devices where household waste including material which wouldresist combustion in an open fire is subjected to reduction to a clearand odorless gas with a minimum of ash.

An object of the invention is to clean the face of a compacted imporousplug of oxidizable material in order to maintain combustion thereof. Inthe device to which the present invention may be applied, an open-topfunnelshaped entry combustion chamber is surmounted by an open bottomtrash bin and means are provided in the trash bin to compact trashstuffed into said bin into a compacted imporous plug which is halted inits downward advance by the funnel-shaped entry to the combustionchamber so that the bottom face of this plug of trash constitutes a topwall of the combustion chamber. Means are provided to induce and tomaintain combustion of a thin layer of this bottom face so that thetrash stuffed into this bin is consumed steadily. Such a device willconsume material ordinarily found to be difficult of disposal, such astin cans and magazines normally printed on paper having a high contentof clay. The ordinary ash produced in this bottom face of the plug oftrash merely drops away particularly when, through erosion andshrinkage, the plug responds to pressure from above and moves downwardlyto maintain its face substantially and continuously at the same level.This movement is known as controlled collapse and the slight movement issufficient to loosen ash which has formed so that it may be strippedalong with the gaseous products of combustion from the combustionchamber. However, such material as magazines tend to form a carbonizedlayer with considerable structural strength so that some sort ofagitation of the burning face is required. The incinerator of thepresent invention is a household appliance and is installed along withother modern day appliances, such as dishwashers, clothes washers anddryers, all of which require a minimum of attention by the housewifeoperator, so that any sort of mechanical agitation by the housewife, asby a poker, is out of the question. Moreover, this incinerator, whiledesigned to reduce such things as tin cans to oxides easily crumbled byvery high temperatures, is constructed and arranged to present no fireor personal hazard to the housewife and the hot spot combustion chamberis, so to speak, buried deep within the device and is inaccessible,wherefore the agitation of the burning face is required to be automatic.

In accordance with the present invention, air jets are provided to cleanthe burning face of the compacted plug of trash and to clear 011? smallmaterials that may have dropped from this burning face to the funnelshaped lower walls of the combustion chamber. Such jets also presenttemperature gradients to any tin cans present and act as a force to helpbreak up these oxidized bits of metal which by this time have becomehighly brittle. Tin cans subjected to a temperature above the allotropictransformation value readily oxidize and become brittle and, if thetemperature is raised above and then below this value periodically, willreadily crumble so that even a slight force provided by a jet streamwill reduce them to ash. A means is provided to turn the jets on fromtime to time so that the burning bottom face of the plug will not becomeclogged and interpose a ceramic barrier between the heated air in thecombustion chamber and the face of the plug. In this type of incineratorthe combustion is not induced or maintained by air flowing through thetrash, but rather by heat conducted thereto by radiation and since themagazine ash having a large percentage of clay also has a fairstructural strength, the ceramic barrier thus produced has to be brushedaside occasionally. Thus the said jets are turned on from time to timefor cleaning purposes.

The jets do not constitute combustion air though, un-

doubtedly, they help somewhat in maintaining combustion. There is asource of combustion air steadily flowing into a firing chamber and thendelivered to the combustion chamber. This air becomes heatedsufficiently to maintain combustion at the temperature value requiredwhereas the cleaning jets, if left to operate over a too long period,would tend to cool the face of the plug and thus interfere with theeconomical operation of the device.

A feature of the invention is the use of a timer which automaticallyturns the jets on periodically each for a time period long enough toblast the burning face of the plug and to dislodge ash which hasaccumulated on the lower funnel shaped sides of the combustion chamber,but not long enough to substantially lower the temperature within thecombustion chamber.

Other features will appear hereinafter.

The drawings consist of a single sheet having a single figure consistingof a schematic diagram of the reservoir, the valve and the timing deviceapplied to the manifold supplying the jets leading into the combustionchamber and the trash bin shown in vertical section.

The appliance consists of a ceramic base portion 1 formed into an opentop combustion chamber having a funnel shaped sidewall at its top inwhat may be termed a restriction ring 3, and a bottom wall 2, alsofunnel shaped. This is surmounted by an open bottom trash bin 4 in whicha compacting bag 5, inflated from any conventional source of compressedair 6 is used to compact the compressible trash into an imporous plug ofoXidizable material. This is halted in its downward movement by therestriction ring 3 so that its bottom face 8 substantially forms a topwall of the combustion chamber. The tunnel shaped bottom wall 2 of thecombustion chamber is surrounded by a firing chamber 9 in which heatingelements ltl are located. Combustion air is brought into the firingchamber 9 through the duct 11 and the heated air is conducted into thecombustion chamber through orifices 12 whereby this forms a means toinduce and maintain combustion of a thin layer 8 of the bottom face ofthe plug of trash. The funnel shaped bottom wall 2 of the combustionchamber terminate in a chute 13 by which the combustion chamber isstripped of the products of combustion. A venturi tube 14 is located atthe bottom of the chute 13 and functions at that point to cool andtransport the products of combustion from the combustion chamber, asindicated by the arrows in the combustion chamber, the chute 13 and thetransversely intersecting venturi tube 14.

A particular feature of the present invention is a manifold 15constructed and arranged about the body 1 of the combustion chamber andhaving a plurality of nozzles 16 and 17 projecting into the combustionchamber, some, those marked 16, being so pointed that air undercomparatively high pressure will blast the bottom face 8 of the plug ofcompacted material and others, those marked 17, will blast the slantingsurfaces of the funnel-shaped bottom wall 2 of the combustion chamber. Areservoir seesaw 18 holds compressed air which is supplied thereto inany conventional manner and which is periodically supplied to themanifold by a valve 19. The valve 19 is operated by conventional timingmeans 20. Thus the face 8 of the plug of material is periodicallyblasted to dislodge any ash which may have failed to drop away, such asthe clay like magazine ash, and the funnel shaped sides of thecombustion chamber are likewise blasted to dislodge ash which may havelodged there or larger pieces, such as the oxidized brittle remains oftin cans. This blasting of the surfaces within the combustion chamber isperiodic and of short duration so that the cooling of the face 8 undercombustion is not serious.

What is claimed is:

l. An incinerator comprising an open top combustion chamber having afunnel-shaped entry, an open bottom trash bin surmounted on saidcombustion chamber, means in said trash bin for forcing trash stuffedtherein to an imporous plug of oxidizable material pressed downwardly bysaid compacting means and halted in its downward movement by saidfunnel-shaped entry to said combustion chamber, where the bottom face ofsaid plug constitutes the top wall of said combustion chamber, means toinduce and to maintain combustion of said bottom face of said plug, andair jet means for blasting said bottom face of said plug to dislodge ashformed thereon.

2. An incinerator comprising a combustion chamber having a funnel-shapedentry at its top and a funnelshaped bottom wall, an open bottom trashbin surmounting said combustion chamber, means in said trash bin forcompacting trash stuffed therein to an imporous plug of oxidizablematerial pressed downwardly by said compacting means and halted in itsdownward movement by said funnel-shaped entry to said combustionchamber, where the bottom face of said plug constitutes a top wall ofsaid combustion chamber, means to induce and to maintain combustion ofsaid bottom face of said plug, and air jet means for blasting saidbottom face of said plug to dislodge ash formed thereon and for blastingsaid funnelshaped bottom wall of said combustion chamber to dislodge andcrumble products of combustion dropped thereon from the burning bottomface of said plug.

3. An incinerator comprising a combustion chamber having a funnel-shapedentry at its top and a funnelshaped bottom wall, an open bottom trashtin surmounting said combustion chamber, means in said trash bin forcompacting trash stuffed therein to an imporous plug of oxidizablematerial pressed downwardly by said compacting means and halted in itsdownward movement by said funnel-shaped entry to said combustionchamber, where the bottom face of said plug constitutes a top wall ofsaid combustion chamber, means to induce and to maintain combustion ofsaid bottom face of said plug, air jet means for blasting said bottomface of said plug and the downwardly sloping funnel-shaped bottom wallof said combustion chamber to dislodge the products of combustionaccumulated thereon, and timing means for periodically controlling theoperation of said jets.

t. An incinerator comprising a combustion chamber having a funnel-shapedentry at its top and a funnelshaped bottom wall, an open bottom trashbin surmounting said combustion chamber, means in said trash bin forcompacting trash stutfed therein to an imporous plug of oxidizablematerial pressed downwardly by said compacting means and halted in itsdownward movement by said funnel-shaped entry to said combustionchamber, where the bottom face of said plug constitutes a top wall ofsaid combustion chamber, means to induce and to maintain combustion ofsaid bottom face of said plug, air jet means for blasting said bottomface of said plug and the downwardly sloping funnel-shaped bottom wallof said combustion chamber to dislodge the products of combustionaccumulated thereon, a reservoir of compressed air, a valve between saidreservoir and said jets,

and timing means for periodically controlling the oper ation of saidvalve.

5. An incinerator comprising a combustion chamber having a funnel-shapedentry at its top and a funnelshaped bottom wall, an open bottom trashbin surmounting said combustion chamber, means in said trash bin forcompacting trash stuffed therein to an imporous plug of oxidizibalematerial pressed downwardly by said compacting means and halted in itsdownward movement by said funnel-shaped entry to said combustionchamber, where the bottom face of said plug constitutes a wall of saidcombustion chamber, means to induce and to maintain combustion of saidbottom face of said plug, periodically-operated air jet means forblasting said bottom face of said plug and the downwardly slopingfunnel-shaped bottom wall of said combustion chamber to dislodge theproducts of combustion accumulated thereon, a reservoir of compressedair, a valve between said reservoir and said jets, timing means forperiodically controlling the operation of said valve, a source ofcombustion air, a firing chamber in receipt of air from said source andsubstantially surrounding said combustion chamber, heaters in saidfiring chamber, and orifices leading from said firing chamber to saidcombustion chamber to direct hot air onto said bottom face to induce andto maintain combustion thereof and for maintaining a predeterminedtemperature within said combustion chamber.

6. An incinerator comprising a combustion chamber having a funnel-shapedentry at its top and a funnelshaped bottom wall, an open bottom trashbin surmounting said combustion chamber, means in said trash bin forcompacting trash stuffed therein to an imporous plug of oxidizablematerial pressed downwardly by said compacting means and halted in itsdownward movement by said funnel-shaped entry to said combustionchamber, where the bottom face of said plug constitutes a wall of saidcombustion chamber, means to induce and to maintain combustion of saidbottom face of said plug, a reservoir of compressed air, a manifoldsurrounding said combustion chamber, a valve between said reservoir andsaid manifold, timing means for automatically and periodically operatingsaid valve, and a plurality of nozzles leading from said manifold intosaid combustion chamber, certain of said nozzles constructed andarranged to direct air jets over said bottom face of said plug andothers of said nozzles constructed and arranged to direct air jetsdownwardly over said funnel-shaped bottom wall of said combustionchamber.

7. An incinerator comprising a combustion chamber having a funnel-shapedentry at its top and a funnelshaped bottom wall, an open bottom trashbin surmounting said combustion chamber, means in said trash bin forcompacting trash stuifed therein to an imporous plug of oxidizablematerial pressed downwardly by said compacting means and halted in itsdownward movement by said funnel-shaped entry to said combustionchamber, where the bottom face of said plug constitutes a wall of saidcombustion chamber, means to induce and to maintain combustion of saidbottom face of said plug, a reservoir of compressed air, a manifoldsurrounding said combustion chamber, a valve between said reservoir andsaid manifold, timing means for automatically and periodically operatingsaid valve, a plurality of nozzles leading from said manifold into saidcombustion chamber, some of said nozzles being constructed and arrangedto direct air jets over the said bottom face of said plug and others todirect air jets downwardly over said funnel-shaped bottom wall of saidcombustion chamber, an ash chute opening downwardly from the lowermostpart of said bottom wall, and means to flow cooling air transverselyacross the lowermost termination of said chute to cool products ofcombustion passing through said chute and to transport said products todiscard areas provided therefor.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited by the ExaminerFOREIGN PATENTS UNITED STATES PATENTS 941,105 6/1948 France. 248,39110/1881 Baum 126 223 19,083 1913 Gmt 597,716 1/1898 Hwass 6821 42,932,712 4/1960 Levin X 5 FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Pumaly Examine).2,932,713 4/1960 Powers 11018 H. B. RAMEY, Assistant Examiner.

2,979,897 4/1961 Studhalter et a1. 158-50'.1 X 3,133,492 5/1961 Czulaket a1. 6821 X

1. AN INCINERATOR COMPRISING AN OPEN TOP COMBUSTION CHAMBER HAVING AFUNNEL-SHAPED ENTRY, AN OPEN BOTTOM TRASH BIN SURMOUNTED ON SAIDCOMBUSTION CHAMBER, MEANS IN SAID TRASH BIN FOR FORCING TRASH STUFFEDTHEREIN TO AN IMPOROUS PLUG OF OXIDIZABLE MATERIAL PRESSED DOWNWARDLY BYSAID COMPACTING MEANS AND HALTED IN ITS DOWNWARD MOVEMENT BY SAIDFUNNEL-SHAPED ENTRY TO SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER, WHERE THE BOTTOM FACE OFSAID PLUG CONSTITUTES THE TOP WALL OF SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER, MEANS TOINDUCE AND TO MAINTAIN COMBUSTION OF SAID BOTTOM FACE OF SAID PLUG, ANDAIR JET MEANS FOR BLASTING SAID BOTTOM FACE OF SAID PLUG TO DISLODGE ASHFORMED THEREON.